Recently, the processing time for photographic materials has been greatly shortened. Hence, a developer providing sufficient sensitivity in a short processing time, and a photographic material having an excellent development progressing property and providing sufficient blackened density in a short processing time, which further provides for a short drying time after washing are desired.
A method generally used for improving the drying property of a photographic material, comprises reducing the water content of the photographic material before the initiation of drying by previously adding a sufficient amount of a hardening agent to the photographic material at the coating step. Consequently, the swelled amounts of the hydrophilic colloid layers including the silver halide emulsion layer(s) in the development, fixing, and washing steps are reduced. In this method, if a larger amount of a hardening agent is used, the drying time can be further shortened. However, in this case, by reducing the swelled amounts of the layers, the development is delayed, the sensitivity and the contrast are lowered, and also the covering power is lowered. Also, if the development progressing property could be improved, the delay of the fixing speed by the high degree of hardening causes problems of increased residual silver, residual hypo, and residual colors of sensitizing dyes, which problems hinder shortening of the processing time.
On the other hand, a method of activating a processing liquid (developer) is known and a method of increasing the amounts of the developing agent and an auxiliary developing agent, increasing the pH of the developer, or increasing the processing temperature is effective. However, these methods disadvantageously deteriorate the stability of the developer with the passage of the time, and are accompanied with an increase in contrast and fog.
For the purpose of overcoming the above described problems, a technique utilizing tabular silver halide grains is proposed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,439,520 and 4,425,425.
Also, JP-A-63-305343 and JP-A-1-77047 (the term "JP-A" as used herein means an "unexamined published Japanese patent application") propose a technique of improving the develoment progressing property and the ratio of sensitivity/fog by controlling the development initiating point of silver halide grains having the (111) plane to the apex and/or the edge of the silver halide grain or adjacent thereto.
Furthermore, JP-A-58-111933 discloses a radiographic photographic element having a high covering power without the need for adding a hardening agent at processing, by using tabular silver halide grains and by controlling swelling of the hydrophilic colloid layer(s) to 200% or lower.
These known techniques are all useful for improving the development progressing property of photographic materials. However, when the processing times of each of the development, fixing, and washing steps is shortened, the amounts of residual silver and residual hypo are increased due to reduction of the fixing property in addition to lowering of photographic sensitivity. Also, in a photographic material subjected to spectral sensitization with a sensitizing dye, the problem of residual color formation occurs. On problems other than these photographic properties, there is a limit to improvement by modification of silver halide grains, and layer quality becomes the limiting factor. That is, the thickness of the hydrophilic colloid layer(s) determines the extent of fixing and formation of residual color.
Regarding this point, JP-A-64-73333, JP-A-64-86133, JP-A-1-105244, JP-A-1-158435, JP-A-1-158436, etc., disclose a means of attaining ultra quick processing so that the total processing time is from 20 seconds to 60 seconds by controlling the gelatin content of a photographic material at the side having the hydrophilic colloids layers including silver halide emulsion layer(s) to the range of from 2.00 to 3.50 g/m.sup.2, and by combining this technique with other technical elements. Also, JP-A-2-68537 discloses a means of attaining ultra quick processing by controlling the weight ratio of silver of a light-sensitive silver halide to gelatin (silver/gelatin) in a coated silver halide emulsion layer to at least 1.5.
When the total processing time is set to 60 seconds or lower, and in particular to 40 seconds or lower as described above (as the result of properly distributing the processing time of each of the development, fixing, and washing steps), the present inventor found that if the thickness of the layers constituting the photographic material (hereinafter, referred to as layer thickness) was not less than 3.8 .mu.m, the drying property was impaired when the automatic processor was located in a highly humid environment.
As described above, when the layer thickness is less than 3.8 .mu.m, the formation of drying marks and roller marks in the case of processing with an automatic processor becomes inferior, and finally reaches an unacceptable level.
The drying mark is manifest as a non uniform unevenness of surface luster formed at drying in the case of processing by an automatic processor. If drying marks form, when the photographic material is evaluated in a room having an illumination such as a fluorescent lamp, etc., an unevenness is apparent in the reflected light from the photographic material. Consequently, the image formed on photographic material becomes reluctant to be evaluated.
Also, roller marks are incurred when pressure is applied to a light-sensitive material by the fine unevenness on the surfaces of transporting rollers of an automatic processor which results in a black spot-form of uneven density.
The present invention reduces both the formation of drying marks and roller marks for a layer thickness of less than 3.8 .mu.m (which layer thickness is ordinarily susceptible to such drying and roller marks) to enable rapid processing. In the present invention, the foregoing object is achieved by increasing the melting time of the photographic material and by greatly reducing the iodide content of the silver halide grains used therein.
JP-A-63-221341 discloses a means of improving the pressure property and the graininess for an ultra rapid total processing time of from 20 seconds to 60 seconds by controlling the coated gelatin amount to a range of from 2.00 to 3.20 g/m.sup.2, controlling the melting time to a range of 8 minutes to 45 minutes, and using tabular silver halide grains having a grain diameter of 5 times the thickness of the grain. Furthermore, JP-A-2-262645 discloses a technique which enables rapid processing and achieves high-sensitivity and good processing properties by defining the content of silver iodide, the melting time, and the layer thickness.
The effects of the techniques described in the foregoing patent publications are entirely different from the effect of the present invention as described hereinbelow.
Furthermore, the silver iodide contents described in the Examples of the foregoing JP-A-63-221341 are 2.0 mol %, 1.3 mol %, and 0.67 mol % to silver, and the silver iodide content described in the Examples of foregoing JP-A-2-262645 are 2.2 mol % and 10.5 mol % to silver.
When silver halide grains having such a silver iodide content are used in the present invention, the formation of roller marks is severe, and the photographic material is not acceptable for practical use.